Judge: Workplace lecture was religious harassment

Nov. 13, 2013
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The courts have held that business owners are free to share with workers their own religious beliefs, but also said that unwanted proselytizing is a form of religious harassment. / Andrew P. Scott, USAT

by Clark Kauffman, The Des Moines Register

by Clark Kauffman, The Des Moines Register

DES MOINES, Iowa -- An Iowa grocery store owner who lectured an employee on her religious beliefs must pay her unemployment benefits, a state judge has ruled.

The case centered on a question that often divides civil libertarians and people of faith: Do business owners have the right to advocate for their religious beliefs in discussions with employees?

The store owner, Tyler Stille, says his faith is an integral part of his business and all of his 15 employees were made aware of that before they were hired.

"We have a Christian fish symbol on our sign," he said. "Before we hire anybody, we tell them our faith. We play Christian music in our store all the time, and we always make sure that's OK with them because that's a part of our life."

The employee, Sherri Chafin of Tabor, says Stille's beliefs "didn't bother me one bit - not until he started preaching to me and telling me that I had to read a part of the Bible."

At that point, she says, she quit.

"I don't believe in the Bible," she said.

"I was never big on Christianity because I just don't believe in the churches and worshiping God one day of the week in a building."

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 provides that workers cannot be forced to participate in religious activity as a condition of employment at a typical, non-faith-based business. The courts have held that business owners are free to share with workers their own religious beliefs, but also said that unwanted proselytizing is a form of religious harassment.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission says religious statements or actions amount to harassment only if the conduct is unwelcome and so pervasive that the worker "reasonably finds the work environment to be hostile or abusive."

Randall Wilson, legal director for the ACLU of Iowa, said business owners must be mindful of how their words and actions are perceived by employees.

"A certain amount of stating one's opinion and beliefs is tolerated, but the courts have generally, I think, put themselves in the position of the person who is on the receiving end," he said. "If a reasonable person could conclude there is some pressure being applied, the employer could certainly be in trouble."

Chafin worked for the Tabor Market & Deli from September 2011 to January 2012, when she walked off the job.

She later applied for unemployment benefits, but due to a series of administrative conflicts, a public hearing on her claim wasn't held until May of this year.

According to Chafin's testimony at the hearing, the meeting she had with Stille on her last day of employment began with the store owner preaching to her about the wisdom of King Solomon, and then questioning her lifestyle.

"He told me that I should read one psalm, or one chapter, per day, something like that," Chafin testified at her unemployment hearing.

"He asked me if I was receiving food stamps, or any welfare, or anything like that. He told me that if I was, it was unjust because I worked and I lived with my roommate - who is my boyfriend and we're not married. He called me a 'crapster' and told me to 'shut and listen.'â?¦ I was crying. He was very intimidating."

Stille allegedly told Chafin he intended to replace her and would be going through job applications at the store, then ended the meeting. Chafin left the store and never returned.

At the hearing, Stille said that during Chafin's employment, the two of them spent hours wrapping meat together while discussing matters of faith "and where she was at in life."

Stille said he complimented Chafin on her work ethic, calling her a "workhorse," and said his final meeting with her was prompted by Chafin making an inappropriate remark to a customer. He said he began the meeting by asking his wife for a Bible because it was his intent to read Chafin some proverbs.

He said Chafin quickly became "pretty much belligerent."

He walked out, he said, because Chafin was "crying hysterically" and he couldn't communicate with her.

Stille said that although he had previously questioned Chafin about her faith and her reliance on food stamps, there was little or no discussion along those lines the day she quit.

"We had (previously) talked Bible-talk for quite some time and, in fact, Sherri, in December, had given us a very beautiful religious card thanking us not only for employment and everything we had talked about and what have you," he testified. "So I guess I am a little dumbfounded that all of a sudden she has an issue with Christianity."

Asked by Administrative Law Judge Julie Elder if he believed he could be "kind of intense," Stille responded: "I'm a small-town business owner that has deep roots in the community. Love our community. Love our employees. â?¦ Am I intense? You bet. You know, it's hard in today's world to make a living in a small town and employ so many - especially so many kids."

Elder sided with Chafin in the case, awarding her benefits after finding that Stille's conduct was, at best, "inappropriate, unacceptable and unprofessional," and had created an intolerable work environment.

His conduct also was potentially unlawful, she ruled.

"He effectively held her hostage in his office and lectured her regarding his religious and moral beliefs and her alleged shortcomings in his eyes," Elder ruled.

Stille said this week in an interview that he was "shocked" by Elder's decision.

"It's just a lot of baloney and it's more of government getting involved where it shouldn't," he said. "I'm just really frustrated with the whole mess."

As for Chafin, she may be less likely to run into workplace proselytizing in her current job at Romantix, an adults-only store in western Iowa that sells merchandise of a sexual nature.

"I've been there for 14 months now," she told The Des Moines Register this week. "I've never had any problems with my boss."